Why Your Social Media Engagement Has Dropped - And How to Fix It in 2025

Your reach is down. Your comments have dried up. Your best-performing post this month barely beat last year’s worst.

No, it’s not just you. In 2025, nearly every brand is experiencing a noticeable dip in social media engagement. From fashion to fintech, the same question keeps popping up in client meetings: why isn’t this landing anymore?

This blog unpacks what’s really happening across Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, and how to fix your strategy before you burn through your budget — or your team.

1. The Algorithm Isn’t Broken — It’s Focused

Let’s start with the most common complaint: “the algorithm has changed.”
It has.
But not in the random, unknowable way people assume. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are now explicitly favouring content that keeps people on the platform longer. Not content that gets likes, but content that holds attention. That means long-form video, saved carousels, and comments with conversation potential are rewarded. Everything else is just wallpaper.

What to do:

  • Shift your strategy toward watch time and saves

  • Focus on content that solves a problem, not just sells a product

  • Create formats that encourage replies or story shares, not just likes

2. Too Many Brands Are Copying Each Other

There’s a reason everything on LinkedIn looks like it was written by ChatGPT with a superiority complex. And why TikTok is now full of bland voiceovers and empty skits. Brands are copying “what works” so rigidly that audiences can predict the punchline halfway through the post. That kills curiosity.

If people feel like they’ve seen it before, they scroll.

What to do:

  • Audit your last 20 posts. Be honest. Could any of them have come from your competitor?

  • Stop chasing formats that aren't natural to your tone or product

  • Invest in your own voice. Real differentiation still works — it's just harder to fake

3. Your Audience Is Tired

In 2025, audiences are burnt out from consumption. They are more selective, more passive, and less inclined to comment unless something genuinely moves or outrages them. Posting more often does not necessarily lead to better results — it just accelerates fatigue.

What to do:

  • Slow down and add intention. One strong post a week is better than five forgettable ones

  • Re-engage your audience by asking smart, non-cheesy questions that actually deserve answers

  • Consider pausing your usual content and running a short “reboot” series to reset expectations

4. The Metrics You Care About Are Not the Ones the Platforms Reward

A beautifully branded post that gets 200 likes may feel successful. But if it led to zero profile taps, saves or comment threads, the algorithm quietly buries it.

Engagement in 2025 means depth, not decoration. Instagram’s ranking system, for instance, weighs conversations, DMs and save behaviour far more than quick likes.

What to do:

  • Use fewer engagement-bait captions. Ask something worth answering, not “what’s your Monday mood?”

  • Build more into your post flow: saveable visuals, second-frame hooks, and call-to-action reminders

  • Analyse performance by behaviour, not just numbers. Look at how people interacted, not just how many

5. You’re Not Building Narrative Over Time

Social media strategy often fails because it treats every post as standalone. But engagement grows when audiences feel like they’re joining an ongoing story — whether that’s your founder’s journey, your product’s evolution, or a topic you’re slowly owning.

What to do:

  • Introduce weekly or monthly series that build anticipation (eg. “Founder Fridays” or “Mythbusters Monday”)

  • Think in chapters, not isolated quotes

  • Reintroduce your audience to your brand voice regularly. Don’t assume they remember why you exist

6. You’re Not Speaking to the Right Platform Culture

LinkedIn wants insight. TikTok wants personality. Instagram wants visual fluency. A surprising number of brands are simply reposting the same creative to all three and wondering why it isn’t landing.

Each platform has a different user mindset. The content that works on one often feels tone-deaf on another.

What to do:

  • Adapt your message, even if your product doesn’t change

  • Use platform-native cues: TikTok text overlays, Instagram reel cuts, LinkedIn comment prompts

  • Watch what users are posting, not just what brands are doing. The best performing branded content often mimics user behaviour


The drop in engagement isn’t a mystery. It’s a sign of maturing platforms, smarter audiences, and a content ecosystem that now favours depth over noise.

That’s not a reason to panic. It’s a reason to pivot. If your content is stagnating, it might not be bad — it might just be behind.

At Honest London, we help brands rethink their digital presence from the inside out. Not just to boost numbers, but to create content that earns attention and builds long-term trust.

Lauren BeechingComment